Right there on 18th Street, just half a block off Connecticut sits Candey’s Hardware. It’s one of those almost impossibly cool places in the District, much like its neighbor, the 18th St. Lounge. A little tiny hardware story in the middle of the big city. The Post has a long elegy to Candey Hardware (with some really great photos) in its pages today. Candey’s has been in business since 1891, and has passed down through five generations of Candey’s, but now it will be no more. The building will be sold, the business packed up and finished.
Like many before me, including some of DC’s finest, that was where I went for my duplicate keys, ever since my friend Dan Glover showed me the door to Candey’s back in 2000. But no more. Much as David Candey says, “As you go through life, you’re born, you have real days when you’re thriving and productive, and then you come to an older time when it’s time to look ahead.”
Such is the way. Businesses spring up and flourish, surviving bad times and doing well in the lush times, but then there comes a point when they must be closed for good.
Goodbye Candey’s Hardware. I’ll miss you.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
